Buried within the latest budget plan for the UK, Chancellor George Osborne announced new laws that would ensure internet downloads from the likes of iTunes, Google Play Amazon and game networks would be taxed in the country they're bought in. In the case of the UK, that would be around 20 percent VAT, substantially more than selling through countries like Luxembourg where the rate can be around 3 percent. Separate to the government's grand plans for its digital future, the new rule would start January 1st 2015 -- "ensuring these are taxed fairly and helping to protect revenue." According to the government's estimates, it could net around £300 million in extra tax income, although it's likely to bring digital download pricing (unfortunately) closer to physical media in the process.

About a year after announcing plans to open a retail location in China, Tesla is releasing its Model S sedan there. Coming in at 734,000 CNY or about $121,000 US, it carries a premium over the $81,070 US base price (without incentives), but Tesla believes it could've gone higher -- for comparison, the BMW 650 has an $87K MSRP in the US, but costs around $326,000 in China. Claiming competitors ratchet up their price tags to as much as twice the price just to increase profits, Tesla's math starts with the same initial price before adding "unavoidable" shipping & handling, taxes and VAT -- access to the Supercharger network it's building across China comes at no additional cost. Tesla says it's risking the possibility buyers view its price as a signal of lower quality, but it's committed to "doing the right thing." Whatever the reasoning, we're sure Chinese buyers who've laid down up to $40K for a Model S or Model X pre-order appreciate the restraint.

]]>
Thu, 23 Jan 2014 06:29:00 -050021|20813985http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/21/norwegian-bookseller-begins-selling-e-books-on-memory-cards-for/%3Futm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%26ncid%3Drss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/21/norwegian-bookseller-begins-selling-e-books-on-memory-cards-for/http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/21/norwegian-bookseller-begins-selling-e-books-on-memory-cards-for/%3Futm_source%3DFeed_Classic%26utm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_campaign%3DEngadget%23comments
Literary changes may be afoot in Norway, where one bookstore is looking to drastically revamp the e-book medium. Last week, Norwegian retailer Norli Libris announced that it would begin selling books on small plastic memory cards that can be inserted into the backs of e-readers. Each card, known as the Digi Short, would contain a single file, allowing users to devour one publication at a time on their customized, Android 2.1-laced Kibano Digi Readers. Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of an e-reader? It certainly seems like it, though Norli Libris' Caroline Heitmann says the idea is to simply convert e-books into physical commodities, like their ancestors. Because of this, these one-hitters would be exempt from VAT duties within Norway, though Norli Libris says they'll likely be priced on par with their downloadable counterparts, which won't help the consumer much. The company hopes that this system will be adopted as an industry standard, though it's only available at Norli Libris for the moment. Head past the break for a rather obvious demo video.